Pilot #5 (DVD)

In Java during the darkest days of World War II, an American pilot takes off in his squad's only air-worthy plane. His mission: drop the 500-pound bomb strapped to his plane's fuselage on a Japanese aircraft carrier. As he wings toward certain death, the airmen left behind share their comrade's life story - a stirring tale of love, ambition, political corruption and personal redemption. Part of Hollywood's war effort, this memorable programmer captures America's can-do spirit during the fight against worldwide fascism. Franchot Tone starts as the heroic pilot, and Gene Kelly makes his dramatic debut as one of the men left behind, a brash hothead who knew the doomed pilot best. Van Johnson, Kelly's pal since they worked together in Broadway's Pal Joey, has a featured role. The crisp, muscular direction is compliments of George Sidney, who would go on to direct Kelly in Thousands Cheer, Anchors Aweigh and the Three Musketeers.

Starring: Franchot Tone, Marsha Hunt, Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Alan Baxter, Steve Geray, Edward Fielding, Frank Ferguson, Carl Saxe, Peter Lawford, Jack Gardner, Steven Geray, Dick Simmons, Howard Freeman, Frank Puglia, William Tannen, Sara Haden, James Davis, Cliff Danielson, Jacqueline White, Marilyn Maxwell, Betty Jaynes, Marie Windsor, Hobart Cavanaugh, Kay Medford, Dick French, William Halligan, Fred Graham, J. Lewis Smith, Eddie Acuff, Billy Wayne, Dorothy Morris, J. Frank Hamilton, Ellen Lowe, Eugene Martin, Eddy Chandler, Ralph Dunn, Mark Daniels, Leigh Sterling, William Bishop, James Craven, Helen Thurston, Frances Rafferty, James Millican, Howard Mitchell, Nellie V. Nichols, Harry Semels, John Dilson

Director: B.F. Fineman, B.P. Fineman

Rating: NR